SEC West notebook

ALABAMA: It seemed like a textbook example of how to handle losing five players to suspension.

Alabama rolled to a 24-point win over Tennessee even without a group that included star offensive lineman and team leader Antoine Caldwell before proceeding to lose the next three games.

Now, the five players suspended for improper receipt of textbooks are back in time for the Iron Bowl on Saturday at No. 25 Auburn and coach Nick Saban has made it clear they have served their punishment and are free and clear to compete for their old jobs.

They've been practicing throughout their four-game suspension, so Saban thinks their return to the fold shouldn't be disruptive.

``We're going to use those guys to help us in this game, however they can help our team,'' he said.

How big an impact the three key players returning Caldwell, guard Marlon Davis and Glen Coffee will have on the game remains to be seen. Guard Justin Britt thinks they will provide a big boost, and that Caldwell will resume his leadership role seamlessly.

``He has been our leader on the offensive side of the ball and to get him back is going to be tremendous,'' Britt said. ``It's going to help us out a lot.''

Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville said preparing for the five returning players required a little extra film study of games before their suspension.

``But there's not a lot you can do,'' Tuberville said. ``They've been practicing. They haven't been suspended from practicing, so I'm sure they're excited about them being back, as we were when we got Brad Lester back and some guys that were suspended.''

The returning players have not been made available to the media this week.

AUBURN: No. 25 Auburn's defensive coordinator Will Muschamp will face his former boss for the first time Saturday night in the Iron Bowl.

Muschamp was a 29-year-old with a resume featuring three one-season stops at small colleges when he got his break into a big-time program with Nick Saban at LSU.

He was an assistant with Saban from 2001-04 at LSU and for one season with the NFL's Miami Dolphins.

Saban, now at Alabama, still gives his former pupil high marks.

``He's a great competitor. He really enjoys coaching. He really likes the players. He's smart,'' the Crimson Tide coach said. ``He does a good job of getting ready to take away the things they need to take away.

``He does it with a lot of energy and enthusiasm, and I think that's contagious to the players that he coaches. He's got a lot of the positive trademarks of what I would consider a great coach.''

Muschamp's 2003 LSU defense led the nation in scoring and total defense en route to a share of the national title. He now directs the nation's No. 7 scoring defense.

Muschamp had brief stays at West Georgia, Eastern Kentucky and Valdosta State after working as a graduate assistant at Auburn. He has said Saban was looking for a young coach with experience recruiting in the South.

Muschamp also worked with Alabama assistants Bo Davis, Kirby Smart and Lance Thompson at LSU.

LSU: A pair of LSU defenders will have a busy travel schedule this December.

After intercepting two passes against Ole Miss last Saturday, Craig Steltz has six this season and has been named a finalist for the Jim Thorpe award given annually to the nation's top defensive back.

Steltz is a senior from the New Orleans area who had to wait until his final year at LSU to start after playing behind current Washington Redskins safety LaRon Landry and Jesse Daniels.

Steltz's interception total ties him for first in the SEC. He leads the Tigers with 73 tackles.

The Thorpe award will be handed out in Orlando at the ESPNU College Football Awards show on Dec. 6.

LSU defensive tackle Glenn Dorsey will be there as well. He's a finalist for the Outland Trophy given to the nation's best interior lineman and the Chuck Bednarik Trophy given to the nation's best defensive player.

Dorsey is slated to be in Charlotte on Dec. 3 as a finalist for the Bronko Nagurski Trophy, which also goes to a top defensive player. And Dorsey is a finalist for the Lombardi Award given to the college lineman of the year. The winner of that award will be named Dec. 5 in Houston.

It remains to be seen whether Dorsey will be named a finalist for the Heisman Trophy, which is awarded on Dec. 8 in New York. The Heisman usually goes to offensive players but defensive players are eligible.

MISSISSIPPI: Dexter McCluster, Mississippi's diminutive wide receiver, is known as a play-maker with the ball in his hands.

McCluster showed last Saturday against top-ranked LSU that he can bring the crowd to its feet without the ball.

McCluster delivered the biggest hit in a game full of heavy contact when he demolished Tigers defensive back Chad Jones with a block that helped quarterback Brent Schaeffer turn the corner on a 16-yard scramble in the second quarter.

The crowd cheered repeatedly to replays of the 5-foot-9, 165-pound sophomore leveling Jones, who is 6-3 and 218 pounds.

McCluster continually stung the Tigers in the game. He finished with five catches for 73 yards and two rushes for 38 yards.

He became Schaeffer's primary target in the fourth quarter as the Rebels tried to rally before eventually losing 41-24. He caught a 17-yard pass to move Ole Miss to midfield on the Rebels' penultimate drive with the game still in reach, then on the next play Schaeffer again saw McCluster open deep.

That's when LSU stung back. McCluster made the 18-yard catch but was leveled by Curtis Taylor, a 6-3, 200-pound free safety.

McCluster did not return, but coach Ed Orgeron expects him back Saturday at Mississippi State in the Egg Bowl. McCluster missed 10 straight games in this season and last to a shoulder injury.

``Dexter has been playing with an (undisclosed) injury the last four games of the season, and most guys would be out,'' Orgeron said Monday. ``He gets banged up a little, but he is tough. He was out at practice today, and he will not skip a beat. He is one of the toughest players on our team.''

MISSISSIPPI STATE: Freshman quarterback Wes Carroll continues to show he's Mississippi State's quarterback of the future.

Carroll threw for 421 yards in a 45-31 loss at Arkansas. With the Bulldogs chasing the Razorbacks much of the game, coaches spread the team's formations and let it rip.

The freshman's passing total was third in team history and his four touchdowns tied the school record. Carroll said he didn't realize he threw 51 times until after the game, but a check of the statistics showed him why. The Bulldogs ran 86 plays.

``I think that's the most we've ran this year,'' Carroll said. ``And that just has to do with your first- and second-down conversions. We didn't have as many third-down situations as usual, so the tempo during the second half was just so fast you don't realize how many times you throw the ball.''

The Bulldogs were also strong on third down, converting 6 of 15.

Coach Sylvester Croom loves the power running game, but acknowledged he'll do whatever it takes for the team to win. So there may be a little more spread in the game plan this Friday for Ole Miss in the annual Egg Bowl.

Though he was leery of Carroll's four interceptions, he said only one came because of a poor decision.

``When you're dealing with a freshman quarterback it's a work in progress because we continue to expand the packages, he continues to develop,'' Croom said. ``... You cannot do any more than your quarterback is capable of doing at a given time and there's no question that Wes showed the other day that he can do some things in the passing game.''

AP staffers John Zenor in Montgomery, Ala., Brett Martel in New Orleans and Chris Talbott in Jackson, Miss., contributed to this report.